U.S. Urges England to Bar Discussions on Palestine for the Duration, Pearson Reports

Official circles in Washington are astir with intrigue regarding the question of Palestine, it was disclosed today in an article by Drew Pearson, noted Washington columnist.

“Ex-Secretary of War Pat Hurley and the State Department are in hot debate over Palestine and the Jews,” the article reveals. “Zionist leaders are upset over a proposed statement by the U.S. and British Governments, barring any further discussion now of Jewish settlement in Palestine. Churchill and Eden oppose barring further discussion of the question, but the State Department is pushing them.

“The question arose after Pat Hurley, now a Major General, visited Arabia, where he called on the famous chieftain, Ibn Saud, now recognized as the most powerful of Arabs. He spoke strong words against the Jews in Palestine, said he was determined to drive them from all Arab lands. Hurley reported he told Ibn Saud, diplomatically, he agreed.

“After Hurley’s return to the U.S., the State Department prepared a new policy for approval of the White House and the British Government to bar further discussion of Palestine and the Jews until after the war,” Mr. Pearson states. “The State Department men who prepared and pushed it are:

“1. Wallace Murray, Hull’s political adviser on the Near East, ardent champion of the King of Italy.

“2. Adolf Berle, Assistant Secretary of State, original Brain Truster, who began some time ago to “build up” a series of buffer states in Hungary and Poland against Russia.

“3. Harold Hoskins, former chief investigator for Berle, now in the Army, who was raised in Syria, where his father was an official in the Syrian Protestant College, Beirut, and expert on the Arabic language. When in the State Department, Hoskins, an admirer of the Arabs, was sent by Berle to Capitol Hill to interview Congressmen who had signed the Zionist petition for a Jewish army.

“This new policy, when sent to London, got a rebuff, but under pressure from Washington, Churchill and Eden yielded,” Mr. Pearson writes.

RABBI WISE APPEALS TO PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TO POSTPONE DECISION

“News of this maneuvering leaked out and alarmed some of the President’s close advisers,” Mr. Pearson continues. “While many of them do not necessarily believe in Jewish settlement in Palestine, they do emphatically believe that the door should not be closed to discussion of the question, as they believe it is healthy for all peace problems to be discussed.

“Rabbi Stephen S. Wise came to see the President several days ago. When he entered the Executive Office, the State Department’s proposed policy was lying on the President’s desk, awaiting his approval.

“Rabbi Wise persuaded Roosevelt to postpone decision for a while and the matter is in abeyance. The State Department has been trying to get Secretary of War Stimson to support Hull. Stimson replied that he favored a frank discussion but has not yielded.”

Mr. Pearson also discloses that Senator Langer of N.D. served notice that if the State Department puts through its plan, he will demand an investigation.